Snape or Sirius?
by jo0609
Summary: Harry's abused by his realtives and Snape saves him, but when Sirius gets freed does Harry want to stay with his potions master or his legal guardian? No slash!
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that belongs to JKR including the beginning text, which is straight from the last page of the book (pg. 636-British version)!

A/N: Hello everyone! When I came up with the idea for the plot it seemed great and I hope that you like it too. The part in written in Italics is straight from the book, just so you know if you didn't read the disclaimer. Most of this fic is taking place during the summer holidays.

KEY:

"…" Speech

'…' Thinking

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Bolds Dreams

§? § Different day

§ Same day different time

§§?§§

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Uncle Vernon was waiting beyond the barrier. Mrs. Weasley was close by him. She hugged Harry very tightly when she saw him, and whispered in his ear, "I think Dumbledore will let you come to us later in the summer. Keep in touch, Harry."

"See you, Harry," said Ron, clapping him on the back.

"Bye, Harry!" said Hermione, and she did something she had never done before, and kissed him on the cheek.

"Harry—thanks," George muttered, while Fred nodded fervently at his side.

Harry winked at them, turned to Uncle Vernon, and followed him silently from the station. There was no point worrying yet, he told himself, as he got into the back of the Dursleys' car.

As Hagrid had said, what would come, would come… and he would have to meet it when it did.

What came was nothing close to what Harry had expected. He was sitting in the back seat, looking out of the window at the passing views, when they stopped moving along with the car.

Surprised, Harry looked at his uncle debating weather or not he should ask why they had stopped. Then Vernon Dursley got out of the car and opened Harry's door.

"Listen up, boy," he said, bringing his face close to Harry's, so that they were only an inch apart. "Aunt Marge is visiting for a week or more and I want you to behave, got it?"

"Yes, Uncle Vernon." Harry said dully. He would have to endure Marge's constant insults and comments about his 'worthless' parents.

With a 'good' Harry's uncle got back onto the driver's seat and drove off.

Sure enough as they got home Marge was in the living room ready to throw nasty comments at Harry.

"So still here I see?"

"Yes, Aunt Marge."

"Humph. If I'd have found you at _my_ doorstep, I would've sent you straight to an orphanage, did you know that?"

Vernon stepped in at this art of the conversation and told Harry to get his stuff from the car. Harry gladly obeyed.

Hedwig hooted as she saw Harry coming back to fetch her from the stuffy car.

"Hey girl. Aunt Marge is here again and she doesn't like you too much, so you have to be very quiet. Ok?"

She just nodded in reply.

Harry grabbed his trunk and Hedwig's cage and set off to Dudley's second bedroom. His uncle was already waiting there for some unknown reason, or unknown for the time being.

"Leave your things here and head back to your cupboard, don't take anything with you. Not even that ruddy owl."

Harry was confused.

"Why can't I take my things or Hedwig?"

"Don't ask questions just do it!" Uncle Vernon roared into Harry's face spit flying from his mouth. Then he stormed out of the room muttering something about Marge being right and lessons.

Not heeding his uncle's warnings, Harry opened his trunk and took out his wand, but before he could pocket it a hand grabbed his roughly making Harry drop his wand.

"Did you really believe that I would leave you alone in here?" it was Uncle Vernon.

He swung Harry to the floor and picked up his wand, carefully examining it. He looked down at Harry, who stared right back with a shocked expression.

"So this is the famous Harry Potter's wand, is it?" He had an evil glint in his eyes that told Harry to keep quiet, though he himself shouted. "MARGE! Marge, I have it now if you want to see it!"

Harry's eyes widened, they had told Marge that he was a wizard?

'Wonder what the Ministry thinks of that? Would I even be allowed to tell anyone, but my _direct family_?'

Aunt Marge busted into the room, in which Harry and his uncle were. She looked down at Harry on the ground and then at the wand in her brother's hand. A crazy look came into her narrow mean eyes.

"Well break it already! You've let this nonsense go on for too long, Vernon. Snap it I say!" That was just what Vernon started to do.

Harry's mind had gone blank with shock, but now one thing appeared into the emptiness of it: _Get the wand._

Listening to the only part of his brain that was working, Harry got up and jumped at his uncle. The wand dropped out of his shocked uncle's hands and Harry caught it. He dashed to the door, but wasn't quick enough for Marge, who caught him by his shirt collar and flung him back into the room.

"Where do you think you're going?" Marge asked snatching the wand form Harry and giving it to Vernon. He accepted it and put both of his fat hands on both ends of the wand.

Marge stood Harry up and held his arms tightly behind his back. Harry was trapped there while his uncle got ready to snap his wand. The worst part was that Harry couldn't do anything to stop his 'uncle'.

SNAP!

Harry's eyes widened as he saw his beloved wand bend in half and break.

The pieces fell to the floor with a clatter and he himself fell with a thump.

"Happy?"

"Finally we can end this freak-show."

"Send the freak to his _room_."

"Hah-ha! Go to your _room_ FREAK!"

All the while the two were talking Harry had been crying silently for his lost wand. A sudden pain brought him out of his thoughts as his uncle kicked him in the back.

"Didn't you hear me boy? Go to your cupboard and stay there!"

Harry left silently without looking at his relatives, but a slap made him look up.

"You look at us as you leave the room, unless you're told otherwise. Got it?"

"Yes Aunt Marge."

"And I never want you to call me or Petunia 'aunt' or Vernon 'uncle'. You shall call us Mr. or Mrs. Dursley."

"Dudley too." Mr. Dursley added.

"Yes Mr. Dursley, yes Mrs. Dursley." Harry said lamely, thankful that neither noticed his tone.

§§?§§

A/N: So how was it? The next chapter will continue from where this one left off, just so you know.

Does anyone want to Beta this story? I'll probably post the next chapter without a Beta, depending on the amount of people volunteering.

Anything else?

I don't think so…

Please Review!!!


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own it.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews people! And thanks to all those who wanted to Beta! It was really hard choosing between all of you, but I finally made up my mind.

Congrats, my new Beta, Ms Alex James!

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Read: Sorry about the rash start (if you think that it's rash), but it will be explained in later chapters. The dream is there just to make Harry feel really guilty about Cedric and he wakes up from it at around 2 in the morning.

Are the markings in the key hard to understand, should I change them? I'll ask again before you review. So with that said, read and review people!

KEY:

"Speech"

§?§ Different day

§ Same day different time

'Thinking'

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Dreams

§§§?§§§

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"And I never want you to call me or Petunia 'aunt' or Vernon 'uncle'. You shall call us Mr. or Mrs. Dursley."

"Dudley, too." Mr. Dursley added.

"Yes Mr. Dursley, yes Mrs. Dursley." Harry said lamely, thankful that neither noticed his tone.

Harry Potter had just come back from his fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It had been the toughest year so far because of the Triwizard Tournament and the death of one of the students.

Harry closed his eyes in pain.

Pain was the only thing that Harry felt every time he thought about the tournament. He hadn't known Cedric Diggory that well, but it did still make him feel horrible. Cedric had been Seeker on the Hufflepuff house team; the same position that Harry played on Gryffindor's team. The two had been competing a lot, but they had never taken it too seriously.

Though no one else would admit it, Cedric's death had been Harry's fault. It had also been his fault that Voldemort had returned to power. Harry had helped him get his body back, even though it wasn't intentional. No matter how everyone told him that it he shouldn't blame himself, he still felt guilty.

Harry pushed away all these thoughts of the Triwizard tournament and checked his clock. It was already very late and the Dursley's (don't forget Marge is still with them) had all gone to bed already. So Harry settled back for the first night at the Dursleys.

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Harry was once again in the graveyard of Little Hangleton, where Voldemort's father had been buried.

Standing only feet away was Lord Voldemort himself, an evil smile plastered on his snake-like face. Death Eaters were surrounding the two in the same fashion they had been while Harry and Voldemort dueled.

"Are you ready, Potter?"

'Ready for what?' Harry asked himself, inspecting Voldemort closely and realizing that he had his wand out and was bowing ever so slightly.

"A duel?" Harry hadn't meant to ask this, but the words just came out of his mouth.

"Yes, Potter, a duel. If I win, the boy dies." He said, pointing to a struggling Cedric Diggory, whom the Death Eaters were holding. "And if you win, I free the boy and kill you. Ready?"

Subconsciously Harry bowed and Voldemort fired the first curse.

The duel went and Harry didn't fire one single curse or spell, letting Voldemort disarm him easily. Harry had no idea why he hadn't shot any spells at Voldemort, but he couldn't make himself aim his wand at him or say any incantations.

"Well that was easy." Voldemort said in a mocking tone. "Now the boy will die."

Voldemort turned towards Cedric and said the two horror-filled words; 'Avada Kedavra'.

The scene shifted and now Harry and Voldemort's wands were connected, with Cedric coming out of the latter one's.

The form of Cedric straightened and spoke to Harry. "You got me killed, Harry. You never fought back, though you would've won easily, and now it's your fault that I'm dead. You didn't want me to live, you just wanted Cho for yourself and wanted me out of the picture…"

Then came out Harry's parents and they both spoke the same words at the same time. "You let Voldemort kill that boy, Harry. You didn't sacrifice yourself for another one's life. You are no son of ours. You're not even a Potter anymore, you're a filthy good-for-nothing Dursley—"

"NOOOOOOO!!!!" Harry was screaming from the top of his lungs, until he finally realized that it was a nightmare and that he was still at the Dursley's. Harry wasn't yet sure if it was a good or a bad thing that he was still there, but he was about to find out.

There was a horrible thundering of stairs as Vernon and Marge came down, having been woken up by Harry's screams. Two pairs of slightly lighter feet followed the thundering ones.

There was a scraping of a lock and the door of the cupboard opened reveling an extremely red faced Vernon. He looked only half awake, but awake enough to look murderous.

"What the hell are you doing waking us up in the middle of the bloody night?!"

The murderous look in his eyes got stronger with every silent, passing second.

"Well answer him, boy!" Marge screamed. Petunia was making sure that the curtains were closed (Which they were since it was the middle of the night).

"Vernon," She said quietly, peering outside from behind the curtains with her back to her husband. "How about you give him one of _those_ lessons."

A malicious grin spread over Vernon's beefy face.

"How about I do." Vernon said, crawling into the small cupboard and pulling Harry out in to the hallway. All the while, Marge was saying she had told them to do it a long time ago.

Harry was looking at all the Dursleys one at a time, trying to decide what was going on. It was quite hard, though, considering that they had different looks written on their faces.

Dudley looked like he would've been given permission to visit Willy Wonka's chocolate factory, while Petunia was a little nervous and excited at the same time. Vernon had a crazed glint in his eyes and Marge looked like she had been announced best breeder of English Bulldogs.

Suddenly, Vernon's whale of a hand connected with the side of Harry's face, making him tumble to the floor. He was then pulled up by his collar and slammed into a wall, making him dizzy. There was another 'wham' and Marge slapped him.

"Dad, can I try too?"

Before Vernon had time to reply, Petunia did. "No, Diddykins, not tonight. You'll get your chance later. Get some sleep now."

"But, mom…"

"No buts, Dudley. Listen to your mother, she's right. You'll get your turn later. As for now, it's Aunt Marge's and my turn."

The beating resumed after Dudley and Petunia had gone to bed.

'I can't just let them do this to me.' Harry thought bitterly. 'Have to fight back in some way.'

So next time Marge picked him up, he aimed a punch at her. Surprised, she dropped Harry back down and he tried to dash away, but Vernon caught him by the hair. He was once again flung to the floor. Marge stared screeching something at Harry and kicked him in the calf, then aiming for his stomach and ribs. Harry moved out of the way just as another kick was shot at him missing his ribs, but hitting something else.

Harry tasted a coppery taste in his mouth. He was glad that neither of the Dursley's was wearing shoes, or else it would've been 'goodbye teeth'.

"That's enough now, Marge. I think he's learned his lesson for waking us up in the middle of the night."

"I guess you're right, brother."

The two walked away leaving Harry to bleed on the floor. His only company was his injuries. Harry, feeling extremely exhausted, soon fell asleep.

§

Harry woke up at six thirty that morning because he was really cold. He had nothing to cover himself up with, except the thin linen (which he used as a blanket) in his cupboard.

He got up slowly and silently crept to his cupboard, thankful that the Dursley's had left the door open. He grabbed the linen and wrapped it around himself, wiping the blood from his mouth on a gray shirt he found next to his bed.

'I really hope that this doesn't get any worse.'

Hopes don't get Harry anywhere…

§§§?§§§

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Thanks to: rosiegirl, HelloPhoenixSirius, sappjody, kirsti, Melody DeMort, Miss Teinge, leggylover03, MirreZ, HPOutsidersDuck, and Midgette!

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Alligator353: Here's the next chapter! Did it answer your question? Thanks for reviewing!

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Princess moon shadow: Thanks for volunteering and sorry I couldn't choose you. Enjoy the story!

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Angel74: Nice to see you again Angel74! Sorry about the name… but I corrected it! Thanks for notifying me about it!

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Chaninmailgrl: Thanks for telling me that, I can always do with feedback like that!

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Lady Lily3: Sorry that I couldn't pick you to beta my story. Your review was great, though! Really energetic, it was great to read, thanks!

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Shelly101: Thanks for reviewing twice (assuming that they were both your reviews)! Yes, it's taking place summer after the fourth year.

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Emikae: Sorry, no one beat Vernon up, but Harry's punch was for you. I wouldn't have included it if it weren't for you.

A/N: So are the markings in the key too hard? Did you like it? REVIEW!


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter.

A/N: Hello and nice to see you again, my lovely reviewers! I'm dropping out the key to all the chapters from here on. I'll be changing the markings and won't have a Key at the beginning of each story.

Do you people actually know how short a nanosecond is? I'll tell you it's _short_. It's like 10-9s (or 0.00000001s). Now that's short!

Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out, but I've been lazy and I've had a lot of work to complete. Even now I should be doing my history instead of writing, but I don't care! I want this chapter out so that I can start on my next one. Toddles!

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"Reviewers, this is it, the one you've all been waiting for! The chapter in which Snape finally appears! Hooray! Rock on!!!!"

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……

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Harry woke up at six thirty that morning because he was really cold. He had nothing to cover himself up with, except the thin linen (which he used as a blanket) in his cupboard.

He got up slowly and silently crept to his cupboard, thankful that the Dursley's had left the door open. He grabbed the linen and wrapped it around himself, wiping the blood from his mouth on a gray shirt he found next to his bed.

'I really hope that this doesn't get any worse.'

Hopes don't get Harry anywhere…

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…

Harry made breakfast for the Dursley's at eight o'clock. He himself got nothing but half a piece of moldy toast. Harry, not wanting a stomachache, didn't eat his _breakfast_.

Once the Dursley's were done eating, Harry hand washed the dishes, though the Dursley's had a dishwasher in the house. Vernon handed Harry a list of chores to do after he was done with the dishes. The list went something along the lines of:

Wash dishes (Check)

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Weed garden

Mow lawn

Trim hedges

Rake yard

Water back- and front yard

Make lunch

Wash dishes

Dust house

Dust carpets

Vacuum house

Polish silvers

Polish plates in kitchen

And the list went on and on until the last thing:

Get beating

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…

Harry decided to dust the house first, which would hopefully make the Dursley's leave considering the fact that their son was allergic. He got all the things from the cupboard (yes the one he sleeps in). He went back to the hallway and started dusting, or at least tried to start, but Marge stopped him.

"What do you think you're doing, boy?"

"Doing my chores, Miss Dursley." Harry figured that he had to be polite so that he wouldn't get more beatings than he was already getting. This didn't help, though. Marge slapped Harry hard.

"There is a list of chores for you to do and you have to do them in order! Poor Dudley is allergic to dust and you start with that. We had even arranged it so that we would be out at the time you dust… but Potter is way above the rules of this house and of older people doing everything in his own way." This reminded Harry very much of Professor Snape at Hogwarts. "Now go do whatever you're supposed to do."

Harry proceeded to the garden to start on his chores. Harry worked as fast as he could, wanting the Dursley's out and not wanting to stay up the whole night working.

It was two o'clock by the time Harry got all the gardening done and went inside to make lunch for the Dursley's.

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…

"Boy, we're leaving very soon." Vernon said as Petunia and Marge ran around the house looking for Dudley's gray t-shirt. They finally found it in Dudley's room and the porky boy shoved it on top of his fat.

Harry stared after the Dursley's until the car had gone around the corner and left Privet Drive silent. Running down to the front door Harry tried to open it, but it didn't budge. Harry lowered his glance to the lock and noticed that there was no lock on the inside.

"Of course." Harry sighed, defeated. He remembered a bill he had picked up that morning from a 'Lock and Safety' company. How was he supposed to run away now?

Harry's eyes suddenly lit up. "The windows!" he breathed. He raced over to them only to notice that they had safety locks on them; on the outside. 'I could break them…' Harry dismissed the idea almost immediately because it would cause too much havoc on the neighborhood.

Harry had no other option but to do his chores, until the Dursley's came back. He would then make dinner for them and then wash the dishes, _again_. But before that he had to free Hedwig and send a letter to Sirius or anyone else who could help him out of this mess.

Harry went into the bathroom down the hall and took one of Petunia's hairpins. He then walked to the cupboard under the stairs and looked over the lock. It was old and had a lingering golden color. The area around the keyhole was scrapped with a key that had missed its target on several occasions.

Harry inserted the hairpin into the cool metal lock, twisting and turning it. He was already starting to sweat with the effort of getting the hairpin to open the lock. The sweat was starting to sting and obscure his vision, but Harry didn't give up. The lock was making small cracking sounds until there was a click that sounded like thunder to the un-expecting boy.

…

"This is slightly burnt, boy. Can't you do a better job for once?" Marge said inspecting her plate in distaste.

Harry, who was already really frustrated with his chores, finally snapped. "If it's not good enough for you then make it yourself." Less then a nanosecond later Harry realized what he had said. "Uh… um…." He started stuttering. "I um, I-I di-didn't meant t-to. I-I'm s-s-sorry, Miss Dursley."

"And to think I'd almost forgiven you for your earlier mistake! From now on I will never even consider forgiving you for anything."

That's how the worst beating of Harry's life began.

He was hit, punched, kicked, bit, slapped, and about everything else you could think of. He even lost his glasses at one point, but that didn't matter much because he had no clue what was happening anyway. He also tried fighting back, but he only got hit harder.

In the end, Harry had to give up and let unconsciousness take over.

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…

Someone was calling his name very, very far away; telling him to open his eyes. Harry didn't want to obey, but the voice got stricter and more command-like.

He tried lifting his eyelids, but they felt like a ton of bricks.

"That's it, Potter." The voice sounded so familiar, it was as though a cold voice was trying its best to sound calm and soothing.

After a long struggle, Harry finally got his eyes open and the voice stopped speaking. His vision was extremely blurry and he couldn't focus on anything.

Harry felt as though he were going to pass out again any minute.

"Where…"

"Shut up and drink this. I'll explain later." A cup was put at Harry's lips, but he didn't drink it. For all that he knew it could be a Death Eater trying to feed him poison.

"Stop being so naïve, Potter. Drink if you want to feel better…" Then the voice turned to a cold sarcasm. "Of course I'm not making you do it. You, after all, are above the rules of this world."

That voice, that tone. It belonged to Snape!

"Professor?"

"Glad we know each other. Now drink this." This time around Harry actually drank the potion Snape was giving him.

Harry's vision cleared somehow (he was still without his glasses) and looked around.

He was lying on a large bed with dark green sheets. The room was green, too and scarcely furnished. There was only one bookshelf, a table and a chair, the bed and a nightstand next to it.

Standing further off, close to the door was Severus Snape. He was dressed in ink-black robes, much like the ones at Hogwarts.

"Sir, how d—"

"I strongly suggest that you get some rest now. It's after 10pm and you're probably tired. We'll both be asking all the needed questions tomorrow. Lord knows I have many…" Snape smirked and Harry's insides squirmed at the thought of reveling everything to his most hated professor.

"Now, do you have any immediate questions that need to be asked? Necessary ones?"

"No, sir."

"Good."

Without another comment, he left.

…

Once he was sure Harry was asleep, Snape went to write a letter:

__

Potter's here. I went to get him earlier on today from his uncle's house. I used the counter curse and memory charm on his relatives.

-Severus Snape

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…

A/N: Phew! Done with the second chapter of SoS. Just a note: if you're confused about the curse part in the letter, don't worry, it'll be explained in later chapters.

I'm writing on my laptop and I love it because I can write sitting on my bed with the laptop on my lap, but it gets really warm after a while…

I'm still really sorry for the delay, but I hope that this chapter made up for the long wait.

There anything else I need to say? No?

Okay. I guess that the next thing that you need to do is press on the little purple button after the Submit Review box. The button should say 'Go', click on it and write what you want to tell me about this chapter. Not too hard I hope.


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I still don't own it…

A/N: Thank you for all the wonderful reviews, I love reading them! This chapter was out faster than the last one! Go Jo, go Jo… I didn't have my Beta proofread this chapter because of the time limit, so sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes.

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READ, IT'S IMPORTANT! Sorry that this chappy is so short, but it has a lot of information and will answer most of your questions. Also, I'm writing this on the last day that I will have access to the Internet and I can't make it incredibly long cuz I have limited time… I won't be seeing you lovely reviewers in about four weeks, so MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAVE A GREAT NEW YEAR!

I would like to dedicate this chapter to my good friend, Gautami, who changed schools and move away. Gautami, if you're reading this, then ask yourself these questions and if "I will" is the answer to them all then come back: who will get half the blame if a questions in science is wrong? Who will help keep Mark in line? Who will help me explain something to Mark and call him stupid after that? Who will be Laura's partner in a lab?

We miss you…

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…

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Once he was sure Harry was asleep, Snape went to write a letter:

'Potter's here. I went to get him earlier on today from his uncle's house. I used the counter curse and memory charm on his relatives.

-Severus Snape'

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…

The next morning Harry woke up to the wonderful smell of ready-made breakfast. His stomach grumbled reminding him that he hadn't eaten well in a long time. In fact, not since Hogwarts and that seemed like a very, very long time ago.

Snape walked in carrying a tray of food on it. There wasn't much, but it was more that the Dursley's had given him over the summer. Snape placed the tray on the nightstand by Harry's bed and helped him sit up. Harry muttered his thanks as Snape place the tray on his lap.

"Potter, don't eat too fast because your body isn't used to handling this much food. Eat slowly and don't get used to this treatment because I won't do this every morning, just for today and tomorrow. And I don't want to see you up from that bed, unless you have to go to the bathroom. Understand?"

"Yes, sir. Can I ask you a few things?"

"No, eat now and later I will question you and you will ask all necessary questions then." Being very hungry, Harry obeyed without complaint.

After breakfast, Snape made Harry reveal everything that had happened at the Dursleys.

Snape gave his last nod as Harry finished his story. "Alright, Potter, now that you have revealed that horrid story, you may ask me any questions."

"Sir, did Sirius send you to get me?"

"No, he did not. Your owl came straight to me. She looked really panicky so I opened the letter and came straight to your uncle's house."

"When did you come to the Dursleys?"

"It was two days ago that I got your owl and then came."

"Does anyone know that I'm here?"

"No, not yet, but I will inform Dumbledore once you've asked all your questions."

"So Sirius doesn't know?" Snape shook his head. "Can you please owl him too?"

"Yes I can, anyone else? The Weasley's and Granger?"

"Yes please. Can I ask you something?" Immediately when the words left Harry's mouth, he felt stupid for asking something like that.

"You have been doing so for a while, but I don't think that more questions would hurt."

"Why are you being so nice to me? I thought you hated me."

"Well, not you really, but your father… I'm being nice because you'll be living with me until school starts."

Harry's eyes widened. "But I though that you hadn't owled Dumbledore yet, so how do you know that he won't send me anywhere else?"

"Because you're not with your blood relatives, they would offer you a shield from Voldemort, but since you don't have any other relatives, you're not well protected. I think that my house would be the last place Voldemort would look for you in. every one in the school knows that we dislike each other and they would never dream of finding you in my house."

It seemed like a good plan to Harry, so he accepted it without any complaint.

"Now, if you have no further questions, I would like to write those letters…"

"I can't think of anything else, but if I think of something, I'll ask."

With a final nod of his head Snape left Harry alone in the room. Hedwig flew down to sit beside Harry and nibbled at his pajama as if asking if he was all right. Harry lifted one of his tired hands and stroked Hedwig telling her that he was fine.

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…

Snape sat down at his desk and took out a quill and four pieces of paper. He started his first letter.

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Dear Professor Dumbledore,

As you may already know, Potter had disappeared form his relatives' house. I would just like to inform you that Potter is at my place. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you sooner, but I was too busy taking care of Potter. His relatives have apparently been abusing him trough the whole summer…

Don't worry about this letter being intercepted because I've put a spell on it so that no one else apart from you can read it. It's a Death Eater trick, which I learned a while ago. You wouldn't be able to use it because of the amount of Dark Magic in it. I will keep Potter here until the start of school.

Severus Snape

…

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Dear Sirius,

I don't know if Dumbledore already told you, but Potter disappeared from his relatives house two days ago. Potter asked me to inform you that he is currently staying at my place and he will be staying here until school. He is safest here and he will stay here, don't even try to argue.

Severus Snape

Snape sent out two more letters like this one and then started to prepare lunch fro himself and the boy in this guestroom.

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A/N: As I said: it's short. Expect a longer chapter next time, but not now because I'm running out of time. I didn't even leave you with a cliffy (I could've, you know…).

Thank you to all who reviewed and see you next year! Have a great holiday and be nice to everyone. Love you all! 3

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: How many times do I have to say that I don't own HP.

A/N: This is the first time that I'm seeing you in the year 2005! Having a nice year? I hope you are. Sorry about any mistakes, but this chapter didn't go through my Beta (she's had a copy of this chapter for two weeks now). So sorry!

I'm happy to announce that one of my bestest friends has become an member! Reviewers say hi to: **AnonymousMEk**! She writes Lord of the Rings stuff, so if you like LotR go read her stories when she posts them!

Review responses will be at the bottom of this fic. Enjoy!

**……**

By the next day Snape had gotten answers from both Sirius and Dumbledore.

_Snape, I don't know why you were being so nice to me, but I don't even care. I just want you to promise to take extremely good care of Harry because I can't. I owled Dumbledore and asked if I should come and get Harry, but he told me that Harry's better off there. He isn't, but I don't want to put Harry in danger so he can stay if you treat him nicely. I'll have Harry owl me everyday to make sure that he's ok. Got it? If I hear that he's unhappy, I'll come there and kill you! –S.B._

In his letter, Dumbledore had only told Snape to keep Harry at his manor and go on with his business normally.

**… Two weeks later …**

"Severus," said an evil cold voice. "Has the plan worked so far?"

"It's worked perfectly."

"No one suspects anything?"

"No, Master. They don't suspect anything."

"Ah, this is most perfect, Severus. That old fool believes anything you tell him."

"Well I did save his life. "Snape smirked evilly.

It had been Voldemort and Snape's master plan many years ago. The aim had been for Snape to gain Dumbledore's trust before Voldemort's downfall. They had pretended that Snape saved Dumbledore from Voldemort at a great personal risk, but in truth it had just been the plan and Voldemort had let Snape get away.

"Yes, and he still hasn't repaid the favor. Now he will though, and he will pay a huge price. He'll have to pay his Golden Boy."

**…**

Harry woke with a start at Snape manor. He was breathing heavily and sweating. What had the dream been about? What plan were they talking about? And… Snape had saved Dumbledore's life? When had that happened? Well, that might be why Dumbledore trusts Snape so much.

The thing Harry was really interested in was how Snape had reacted to the last part. He didn't have a chance to see Snape's face before he woke up, but was sure that the man was horrified (or at least scared).

The two had grown pretty close over the past two weeks and they both had realized that the other was in fact a very nice person. Snape, or Sev as Harry now called him, had even played a game of Quidditch in Sev's backyard (Harry had won of course, but they still had fun).

Harry stood up from his bed and traveled to his window. He looked out into the black of the night and saw a white blob coming for him from the sky.

Harry smiled as Hedwig landed on his windowsill, "Hey girl. Did you bring another letter back from Sirius?" Hedwig hooted in reply and Harry took the latter that was attacked to her leg.

_Dear Harry,_

_Is everything all right there? Is Snape still treating you well? I know you told me to stop asking you everyday, but I don't trust Snape and you know it. Send me the answer as soon as you get this, even if it's just a: 'I'm doing ok' or 'I don't like Snape, come get me away from here so that I can live with you'. –Sirius_

Harry shook his head at Sirius' letter. This was the fiftieth time that Sirius had asked Harry to come and live with him. At first it had been funny, but now it was just plain annoying!

Harry set the letter onto his beside table and curled back under the covers of his warm, king-size bed.

**…**

In the morning Harry woke up to the sound of people talking and, wandering whom Snape was talking to, he got out of bed. He stood up stretching and grabbed new clothes from his wardrobe. Harry went to his own bathroom, which was connected to his room, for a nice long shower.

Once Harry came out he noticed that Snape was still talking to the person downstairs. That totally dismissed the possibility of the person being Sirius because: 1. They weren't shouting and 2. They couldn't hold a conversation for that long.

Harry decided to go down to see who the visitor was, for all he knew it could be Dumbledore. He strode to the door and was about to open it, but it wouldn't budge. He tried again, still nothing. Harry kicked the door in frustration and was about to repeat the futile motion, but then he noticed a note taped to the door.

_Harry, so not attempt to open the door because I've locked it with magic. I have a DE with me and he can't see you. Keep quiet and wait patiently until I finish talking with him. –Sev_

Woops, Harry had already broken one of Snape's requirements: _keep quiet_. Harry wondered how long he would have to stay in the room; he was starting to get hungry.

The very second Harry thought that a house elf appeared in his room with a breakfast tray.

"Here you go, Harry Potter, sir." The small house elf squeaked.

"Thanks." Harry smiled at her and she curtsied and disappeared from the room as suddenly as she had come.

Harry pocked at his breakfast of scrambled eggs, French toast, orange juice and fruits as he tried to listen for sounds of the visitor leaving.

On a normal day Harry would've stayed in his room, but somehow it was very frustrating to stay there, knowing that he couldn't get out of the room if he wanted to. He himself didn't get the logic of it, but he thought that it might me an instinct thing. He had been kept locked up at the Dursley's for a long time and then being beat up. It just was against Harry's nature to stay locked up…

**…**

The house elf had come back to pick up Harry's tray a long time ago, when Harry had finally finished eating his breakfast.

After about an hour of sitting in his room practicing spells, Harry heard two chairs scrape the floor and talking that sounded like a 'See you later'-type of thing.

Five minutes later Snape came up and unlocked Harry's door.

"Sorry about that. It was Malfoy and he wanted to know if I'd heard any news of you from Dumbledore."

"That's ok, Sev. I just don't like being stuck in a room, it brings back bad memories."

Snape looked at Harry sympathetically and apologized.

"It's ok, like I said. I know you did what you had to."

"would you come down to the living room with me? I need to talk to you about something important…"

"Sure."

The two set of towards the living room and half way there, Harry's scar started to hurt. He told Snape about this and asked if Malfoy could've come back.

"Not very likely. Malfoy would knock. I think that your scar hurts because Malfoy was here a while ago. He could've left some sort of death eater presence that made your scar hurt… But I don't know. All I know is that there are no death eaters here." Snape thought for a while, "Apart from me."

"Ah, you're not really a death eater."

They entered the living room and Harry's scar prickled more.

"And why not, Potter?"

"That's _Mr._ Potter to you." Harry teased and Snape smirked. "You're not cruel enough to be a death eater. And they're sneaky and have dirty tricks always outnumbering you one to twenty." Harry concluded and then looked at an evilly smirking Snape.

"What?" Harry asked.

"You don't know how right you are, Potter."

Harry whipped his head around and saw Lucius Malfoy standing in the doorway that led to the kitchen. He had a bunch of death eaters behind him, all with their wands ready.

Harry turned around and saw Snape.

"I'll help you battle then off, but you have to alert Dumbledore before that."

"No one is alerting anyone." Snape suddenly had his old, cold appearance back and drew out his wand. Harry did the same and turned towards the death eaters.

Snape was first to fire, "Stupefy!"

Suddenly Harry's world went black.

**…**

A minute later Hedwig flew in with Sirius' letter.

**……**

A/N: Well, what do you think? Very short, I know, but otherwise? How'd you like the end? Personally, I loved it! As promised here are the review responses:

**AnonmousMEk**: Notice that you're missing the 'y' in your name? I finally updated and now I'm off to read your story!

Shazia)Riavera: Thanks! I hope you liked this chapter!

**Jorjor**: I like them too, but I like Sirius stories more (hint, hint) ;P

**starinthedark11**: Sorry, this was a short chapter too, but it was good towards the end, right?

**Shelly101**: Did the people jump back into character in this chapter?

**telchen**: Yeah, but he was trying to be nice so that Sirius wouldn't convince Dumbledore to let Sirius get Harry away…

**rosiegirl**: Here's more for you!

**Voydag**: I was giving a few hints and read **telchen**'s response to get the full answer.

**princess moon shadow**: Thanks! Hope you love this chapter too!

**leggylover03**: Thanks! I did have a nice holiday!

**FroBoy**: See? I updated! Go me!

**Pip3**: Hey, thanks! Never expected anyone to laugh at those letters! Your review really made my day:D

A/N: **_ALL LotR FANS:_** don't forget to read **AnonymouseMEk**'s stories!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own it... how many times do I have to tell you that?

A/N: Wow. It's been a while... sorry, guys, I had a sort of writers block and I didn't have any inspiration. I still don't have any, but I'm writing this. I have no idea what will happen in this chapter, but you'll know once you read this! Once again I'm sorry for the delay...

Also, this is the last chapter of SoS. I might write a sequel if requested, but not until after the summer vacation.

Harry opened his eyes to entirely new surroundings.

"Where am I?" he asked groggily.

"We're in the Dark Lord's prison cell." Snape stepped into Harry's range of vision.

"Sev? What are you doing here? I thought that you stunned me, why did Voldemort lock you up? Or did you not stun me?"

"No, I did and I'm not locked up. I came to get you out of this cell."

Harry got up and rushed to Snape, hugging him. "Thank you." Harry stepped back, realizing something. "But where are we going? Voldemort will know to come to Snape manor if we go there."

"I'm taking you straight to the Dark Lord, Potter. I'm on his side and got you to believe that I'm your friend. The Dark Lord is my master and I gave you to him on a silver platter." Harry was watching Snape in shocked silence.

"But you rescued me from the Dursleys."

"Yes, but I also put them under the Imperius curse to make them hit you. Then I got you and healed you to gain your trust. I told Dumbledore some lie that he believed. He trusted me and I took you away from him right under his nose. He had no idea that I was lying because I know Occulemency."

"What's Occulemency?" Harry figured that he might waste time and also learn something new (right before he died, but oh well).

"Lets just say that with Occulemency I can stop people from reading my mind. The dark lord can of course cause he's so powerful, but Dumbledore couldn't." Harry looked shocked. Voldemort was more powerful than Dumbledore?

Snape laughed evilly "you're a fool potter, just like your parents and Dumbledore! They were all weak and so are you."

Now Harry was past furious; not only had Snape lied and betrayed him, but he had also insulted Harry's parents and Dumbledore. Without even thinking, Harry attacked Snape. They both went crashing to the floor of the cell.

"Wha?" Snape had no time to react because he had never expected Harry to do something so unbelievably stupid.

"Crucio!" with that Harry was soon writhing on the floor of the cell while Voldemort had his wand on him.

"Let that be a lesson to you, potter. Never attack my Death Eaters." Snape stood up and thanked his master.

"Potter. It's a shame that I have to do this to you, but you with your rebellious nature will not learn other wise." Voldemort nodded at Snape and they both took out their wands and pointed them at Harry.

Harry heard two simultaneous 'crucio's and then he knew nothing else apart from pain.

The two dark wizards had their wands on Harry for what felt to him like hours, but was only a few minutes.

Harry had tears of pain in his eyes as he watched silently as Snape and Voldemort exited the cell.

Then the pain took over and Harry had to give into his body's pleas. He was out before you could say 'I'.

"Get up potter! Get up now!" Snape's angry voice woke Harry up. He was pulled to his feet before he even had a chance to open his eyes.

"The dark lord wants to see you, potter. The dark lord does not appreciate tardiness. I would be punished and so would you. Quit stalling and get a move on!"

by this time, Harry had woken up fully and was ready to go see the man that would most likely kill him very soon. Despite all these negative thoughts Harry wasn't scared. Sure he knew he was going to die, but some how he wasn't scared. Maybe it was due to the fact that he was so tired from last night. Whatever it was it helped Harry face Voldemort.

"Go in." Snape pushed Harry through a doorway and Harry was faced with Voldemort for the fifth time.

"How nice to see you again, Harry." he smiled his snake smile. Harry knew that Voldemort was just trying to unnerve him, but as Harry smiled back Voldemort realized that Harry was anything but scared.

"You are a fool, potter. You are faced with death and still you smile. You really are no more than a fool."

"Could be. I wouldn't know because I compare myself to Dumbledore. He's a fool too, right?" Harry knew that it was a dangerous move, but he figured that if he were going to die, he would first toy with voldie.

"You are even more of a fool than Dumbledore. He at least realized that I am not one to play with."

"But its okay, right? I mean me being more foolish than Dumbledore. I'm younger than Dumbledore and young people are supposed to be dumber." Harry was mentally screaming at himself. How stupid was he? He was practically ordering Voldemort to kill him.

"Who do you think you're talking to?"

_if you want to do something wrong, do it right._

"Lets see, who could I be talking to? Snape? Nah wont waste my time with him. Any others here?" Harry pretended to look around and then gave a surprised yelp as he saw Voldemort. "Another person, this time someone more important than Snape. Guess I'm talking to you then."

_Idiot, idiot, idiot!_

"Actually scratch that. Snape at least has the title of professor. you have no title. just a plain common name; tom."

_Moron alert!_

"Tom Marvolo Riddle."

Voldemort looked like he was about to pop a vein and his normally controlled and pale face was flushed with anger. Harry looked at him and saw death written in his eyes. Harry knew he was going to die. There was no way around it.

"My name is not tom! Its Voldemort!" this was the first time that Harry had heard Voldemort raise his voice out of anger.

It was definitely not a good sign.

How on earth would Harry get out of this? This time he had dug a hole too deep to get out of.

"You know potter, I would've let you die in peace, but now that you've offended me I don't think that you should be let off that easy. Crucio!"

The next few minutes were nothing but pain to Harry. He didn't even realize that he was screaming. Harry nearly tore out his vocal cords when Voldemort increased the pain the curse was causing.

Then the pain finally stopped. Harry was left on the ground, panting and barely conscious.

"Did you like that, Harry? You didn't did you? No. No one has ever liked that one, no one but me. Always been a favourite."

To Harry, who only heard a few words, this sounded like: "like...Harry...nt did...one has...ever lik...one...but me...been...rite." not that he even cared what Voldemort was talking about.

"Ready for another round?"

Without even waiting for an answer Voldemort threw another curse at Harry.

This one caused Harry a really nauseating pain and made him throw up. Of course he hadn't eaten anything, so there was really nothing to throw up.

"Well that wasn't too much fun... lets try something else." Voldemort thought for a while and then yet again aimed a curse at Harry.

"Visionos!"

At first Harry felt nothing, but then everything went black. When everything came back to focus, Harry was standing and watching his father get killed after Voldemort had burst in through the door. Then he watched as Voldemort climbed the stairs very slowly, taking pleasure as some of them creaked.

Voldemort was on the last step when he paused to listen to Lilly Potter's fast breathing. he found great pleasure in making people scared. He enjoyed it more than killing, and that was saying something.

Harry could only wait for Voldemort to move because he couldn't be himself. He, too, heard his mother's quick breaths, but had no power to stop Voldemort.

Finally after a long pause Voldemort continued his way to Harry's door. He opened it with a simple blasting spell, for he knew that Lily would've locked the door with an 'anti-alohamora' spell.

Lilly begged and begged for Voldemort to kill her instead of Harry, but her pleas went to deaf ears.

All Harry could do was watch when Voldemort raised his wand and uttered the two most feared words in the Wizarding world: "Avada Kedavra!"

There was a scream and everything went black again. The next thing Harry was aware of was a lot of noise. There were angry shouts thrown from one side of the room to the other. Harry had no idea what they were saying, but he knew that he had a pounding headache and the noise wasn't helping any.

"Harry!" Harry understood that one and he also recognized the person who that voice belonged to.

Suddenly not so tired any more, Harry lifted his head and looked around. Only then did he notice that there was a battle going on between Dumbledore and Voldemort group. Sirius, who had called to Harry earlier, was running towards him as fast as he could, with the curses flying around.

Once Sirius reached Harry he kneeled next to him and asked if he could stand and walk.

"I think so…" Harry got up and managed to stay up.

"Come on lets go to Dumbledore so that we can get out of here." Sirius was pulling Harry along fast while keeping a protection shield up. Suddenly Harry's legs gave out and he lurched sideways. He crashed right into Voldemort, who was fighting Dumbledore.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Potter. How nice of you to drop by." Voldemort pulled Harry in front of him and held his wand to Harry's head. "Tell your army to stop moving, or else." His wand gave out a few sparks, but he didn't hurt Harry.

"Lower your weapons!" Dumbledore commanded and everyone did as was told; everyone, but Sirius.

He gave a last prayer to Lily and James before he dived at Voldemort.

Taken totally be surprise, Voldemort fell down and Harry crashed with him. Sirius acted fast and pulled Harry up and away from Voldemort.

Everyone from the Order acted fast and pulled out their Portkeys. Soon they all had disappeared and Voldemort was left screaming bloody murderer

**…**

"Harry…Harry, wake up. Please Harry."

Harry slowly opened his eyes to find a pair of really worried ones looking at him.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like I was just run over by the Hogwarts Express." Despite the situation, Sirius gave a small laugh.

"Good to know that you're well enough to make jokes." Harry gave a small smile, too, but it soon turned into a frown.

"Sirius, I'm sorry for not listening to you and all. I—"

"That's okay Harry. I understand; you don't need to explain. I'm just glad that I have you now."

"I'm glad to be here with you, too. I don't have to go back to the Dursley's, do I?"

" No you don't. Dumbledore thought that it might bring back some bad memories." Sirius noticed that Harry's eyes were struggling to stay open. "Get some rest, Kiddo. Trust me when I say that you'll need it. You are going to have the best summer ever! The Weasley's and Hermione are going to be here and we could have a game of Quidditch and play Exploding Snap and eat all kinds of candies and have fun with them. Then we also could…"

Harry fell asleep listening to Sirius' promises of the best summer and he dreamt of all the things he and his friends could do.

**… THE END …**

A/N: Once again: I'm sorry for the delay. I hope that this chapter was good. I really tried to make it the best possible in the short amount of time that I have (I'm going back to Finland for the summer tomorrow). If you want the sequel tell me in a review. I'll be writing it during the summer, but if you don't want it I won't post it.

How many of you have started reading the new Harry Potter? It came out today if my sources are correct. I'll get it when I arrive at my house in Finland. Have fun reading this and the book!

HAVE A GREAT SUMMER EVERYONE! I'll see you all on the 22nd!

I'll miss you Kylie!


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